Meerkat Minor Ch. 8

As Malcolm swam his way to the mysterious tree gap, he noticed the grass becoming more full and glorious beyond his imagination! He began to leap after every other step and soon he was practically flying like a spotted deer. His mind darted from thought to thought of what could be waiting beyond the trees. Perhaps the ocean, he had only heard stories of the ocean, how exciting it would be to see the ocean! Or maybe a tiny cottage filled with Bit-O-Honey and Swedish Fish! OR . . . it might be a grand Icelandic castle with a big deep moat filled with fearsome creatures and houdstooth tapestries (the tapestries would obviously be in the castle not in the moat).

I would like to paws (pun intended) and slide a tidbit of useful information in your direction about Malcolm's feet. From his day of birth he has had extremely sensitive foot pads, which he would tell you is a blessing and a curse. He was always able to tell the exact ingredients of whatever he was standing on, whether it be granite rocks or pine wood shavings. And with that morsel of information, I will now continue with the story. Malcolm began to notice a strange consistency in the soil that danced between his toes as each foot beat the ground. A plastic synthetic feeling he had only ever felt while miniature golfing with his cousins in Trinidad. As he got closer he began to get dizzy and the strange feeling in his toes became worse. Suddenly without warning everything went black, but not just black, Malcolm was unconscious but still vertical. He had slammed straight into something, but it would not be until he regained consciousness that he would realize he slammed straight into a giant wall.

Meerkat Minor, Ch. 7

This sleep that Malcolm slipped into was no ordinary sleep, Dear Friends. And that is why we had to take a brief reprieve from our story so that we, the Storytellers, could recuperate from the sleep ourselves. Now that we've regained our strength, we'll resume the tale. But first as a word of caution, beware of any smells that may come wafting from your kitchen, and do not be too surprised with where this story may take us - particularly in the way of the characters of Major Heggs and Mr. Foximus. Remember firstly, that you have been forewarned and secondly, that not everyone is as good at hiding their true intent as these two animals. You needn't fear, but you should also learn to be cautious when dealing with mammals.
That is our caveat, Reader, and now back to Malcolm.

When Malcolm awakened, the first thing he saw was the branches of a dozen Oak trees, full of leaves, silhouetted against a velvet black sky that was speckled with stars. As he laid on the ground, he could smell the sweet grass that grew 3 feet taller than where the tip of his nose reached when his face was pointed up towards the sky. It was still warm out, but not as humid as it had been earlier in the day. Was it even still the same day as when he met Major Heggs and Mr. Foximus or had he slept for far longer than even he knew?

Malcolm licked his lips, suddenly realizing that he was incredibly thirsty. He sat up and slurped a couple of grass blades before standing all the way up in an attempt to see over the grass and find out where he was. 

Nothing but trees and grass in front of him.

Nothing to the right.

Nothing behind him.

Nothing to the le- wait. There was an opening in the trees to his left that looked like it might lead out of the circle of trees. It was dark out, but this opening was a slightly lighter shade of blue and seemed to glow with a misty haze. 

Malcolm was confused. After all, wouldn't you be too if you woke up in the middle of the forest after being quite cozy in your little hovel under the ground?

Here, is where Malcolm makes a choice. Had he made a different choice, his story could have gone in quite the opposite direction, both literally and figuratively. But he made the decision to enter the clearing between the trees, so we, of course, will follow him through.

Malcolm partly waded through, partly hopped over, the sea of grass towards the gap in the trees.